News:

Your username and password for these discussion forums are unique to the forums. Your forum login information is separate from your My Adventure Cycling login information, and your login info for the Cyclosource online store. You will need to create a separate login for each of these. However, to make things a bit easier, you can use the same email and password for all three accounts. Also, please note that your login information for the forums is not connected to your Adventure Cycling membership number. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We have blocked registrations from several countries because of the large quantities of spam that originate there. If the forum denies your legitimate registration, please ask our administrator for an exception. webmaster@adventurecycling.org will need your IP address, which you can find at many web sites, including http://whatismyipaddress.com.

Messages - bogiesan

The various forms of nerve stress and possible damage are not easily diagnosed, as your research indicated. Far too many individual factors and there's no way for a doctor to see what's going on with your nerves. However, a good sports-specific MD can assess your bike and your riding position and, based on your symptoms, make a pretty good guess about what might prevent it next time.

while I know people who are enamored of bike fit shops, those proprietors usually are working on standard forms. They' generally not physical therapists.

That's where I'd start but the guy I see is a marathoner and tri. He understands bikes. He even understands my recumbent.

To treat the smell you must identify the source. The list of recommended treatments presents means to attack several different causes or sources. Some odors are gases released by living organisms. Some are from the biproducts of dead and decaying organisms. Some fabrics hold onto these chemicals and gases at a molecular level and nothing you can do will break those bonds. Some organisms will survive by going dormant and come back to life when presented with heat and sweat and create a new crop of odors. Sometimes you simply throw the garments away.

You can search sites like Martha Stewart for tested and approved odor treatments for a wide range of fabrics and possible odor sources. Many of these treatments are simple but multi-step and involve commonly available chemicals like borax, vinegar, bleach, soaps, detergents and sunshine. Just follow the directions carefully. For instance, more detergent does not do a better job than a wee bit of detergent. In heavy concentration, detergent cannot be rinsed away so it causes rashes or, since it resembles food to some bugs, creates a Petri dish for growing things that smell.

"Sour" is usually associated with mildew but you need to decide if it's mildew or mold or a yeast.

I have the hot spot problem with my right foot only. I fixed it by inserting an old credit card (expired) into the shoe between the cleat and insole, raised numbers down. After resetting their location a couple of times when they slipped, a couple of small pieces of duct tape to hold them in place worked quite well. Worked for me.

Visit and hang out on bentrider.com. There are probably a couple of trike-specific forums on the interwebs and the major suppliers should have customer-focused forums on their sites. There you will find hundreds of posts on how to choose a trike and what to expect when you get out on the road. You will be surprised at the variety of wheel configurations, componentry, countries of origin, and prices. An entry level Chinese-made trike can be under $1,000 or you can get a suspended ti or carbon unit from Australia or Germany for $6,000 and up.

I have toured with (not on) several trikes and the owners are universal in their praise of the form factor. Some of these guys have gone totally self-supported across the country more than once so, anecdotally, there are no downsides to touring on a tricycle.

The tandem trike is one of the coolest touring machines I've ever seen. Long and stable, these things are fast and the stoker has a fabulous seat.

Bottom line: Will I be back next year? Sure. But I have no objectivity here. I was on the committee that planned three of Ride Idaho's events so I enjoy watching it evolve and I love to see my home state at low speed from the comformt of my recumbent. Would I recommend this event to others? Sure. But you've got realize Ride Idaho is an average event. Most of its good to great features are offset by avoidable mistakes. So it ends up being no better or worse than other fully supported rides designed for 200-500 riders.

See rideidaho.org for their promotional puffery, route descriptions, entertainment listings, luggage limits and the other information you will want to know before considering Ride Idaho 2015. The 2015 route will be announced in January. Considering they failed to sell out their 10th anniversary gig, we are speculating they will go back to Northern Idaho.

On Day One, as we were pedaling east, trying to hydrate in the withering 100 degrees, invisibly behind us, a huge volume of cold, moist air was colliding with super heated air rising off Idaho's desert. Phones started squawking as flash flood alerts came in. About the time we arrived at camp, a tremendous thunderstorm was dropping 2 inches of water on the city of Twin Falls, Idaho, 80 miles behind us. Rain moved in and pounded our camp at Castle Rocks State Park a few hours later. The storm tracked us for three days. It was a one hundred year event that tested Ride Idaho.

There is no way to predict weather this rare and severe so there were no contingencies in place. Ride Idaho's management scrambled to get us to the next campsites. They located fairground buildings and a gymnasium for those who wanted to escape the waves of rain. Reactions to the weather ranged from resentment to resignation to acceptance and even some relief. Heat was not going to be much of a problem on this ride after all but cycling Idaho's crowded two-lane highways in thunderstorms left many feeling anxious. Some folks brought their rigs in from Twin Falls and went home while others strained the capacities of the staff to sag them along the route.

Those who rode the entire distance have earned bragging rights; stories will be told for decades about the deluge that was Ride Idaho 2014.

On the other hand, how many touring cyclists can you feed with seven dozen eggs?

No one could have anticipated the excitement RI had to cope with (and, all things considered, they did a fine job of dealing with the weird rain), but it's the fundamentals—stuff like good and plentiful food, garbage and recycling, communications, and legible and accurate maps—that just keep slipping through RI's grasp.

RI's meals are prepared and served by community organizations in each venue along the route. Evidence suggests no one from RI double checks the menus and ingredients for quality, quantity, or caloric delivery. No one from RI vettes the food prep and serving plans so the locals can forget or ignore whatever advice and specifications provided by RI. The rest stops, however, are run by cheerfully enthusiastic volunteers who spread a wide variety of high calorie goodies. Still, I'd like to see some proteins added to their selections. It's a good thing the rest stops are so well done; grab and stash some goodies in case the next planned meal is a disaster.

We had three spectacular dinners, three superb breakfasts, and three excellent lunches that were prepared by skilled and caring people who obviously love to eat. As usual, though, we had many more uninspired, inadequate or totally inexcusable meals, including these three bummer breakfasts:1. "We can't open two serving lines because we're afraid we'll run out of food." (They ran out of food.)2. "We started with 7 dozen eggs! They were gone in ten minutes!" (Duh. Fifty of 300 people ate that morning.)3. "Ya'll are gonna need to be patient, there's just the two of us here cooking and one of us is handing out silverware." (Most of us hit the road hungry.)

RI's maps are, umm, funny. Expect many typos, weirdly inaccurate distances, non-referenced profiles that use a different vertical scale every day, and unnecessary icons that obscure the route. Even with a great marking crew, folks managed to wander off the course.

Your foot is hot all over or is the pain isolated just to the ball? Real medical orthotics or inserts from Costco? Many of us can pretend to be orthopedists but all we are capable of is relating our experiences. A doctor can evaluate nerve or tissue issues for you but if you have tried hard road shoes, sandals and mountain bike shoes with no change in your symptoms, only a doctor can figure it out for you. I went through several pedals and shoes before finding a good combination. I hope you figure it out but it could get complicated and expensive. Tandems rule. Recumbents are the best way to travel.

Rhetorical question or serious? Bike Friday has used Cycle Oregon for their Coming Home event several times. Touring veterans from all over the world came and rode their Fridays with us for 350 miles. I see several Bromptons and Fridays on tours or out on the roads, panniered and bagged, rigged for travel. Not so many Dahon folders.

Now that I am typing this, I am thinking perhaps that taking a tablet with a metric !@#% ton of books might do the trick. What do you fine folks think, or what are your experiences with the psychology of riding cross country solo?

Not to push the point too far and be accused of retrogrouchery but tens of thousands of folks road much further and longer than you're planning without any electronics (or disk brakes) at all. A paperback and a notebook/pencil can keep you company for a long time and you can trade the book with another adventurer along the way.

Modern contrivances are luxuries; fun and interesting and stimulating and reassuring but unnecessary in the bigger scheme of what you want and need on a crosscountry solo ride.

Enjoy your trip and take whatever you think will make it more enjoyable or safe.

I make my living behind a camera (and then in front of my Macintosh). I stopped carrying my big gear on vacation decades ago unless, of course, someone is paying me to work. Three reasons: I'm on vacation; that stuff is stupid heavy; I have a phone that takes 8mp photographs. Most of the 12-35mp snapshots my friends take with their big cameras are converted to 720pixel jpgs for uploading or email anyway. Terrible waste.

The best camera one uses is the camera one has available. (This is not a commercial for Apple, most of the current phones have similar features or better.) My 5s is wrapped in an Otterbox and sits securely in a holster on the dash of my recumbent. A click and it's at my face, a touch of my thumb and the camera is activated. I get embedded GPS, face recognition, many levels of autommatic organization in Apple's software and I have Adobe Lightroom onboard if I need it. It shoots 10-image bursts, slowmo video, has a little flash, does panos, squares, some silly filters effects, uses voice annotation, has a bit of zoom, image stabilization and a nominal f/2.2 sensor.

I take way more photos on bike tours with the phone that I ever did with the big iron.

Urge all newbies to participate in several charity metric and full century rides. You learn how to ride, how to hydrate and fuel, take care of flats and minor mechanical issues and you can always bail.

Then sign up for a few week long fully supported tours. You learn how to pack, pitch and strike camp, deal with downtime, and you will meet dozens of experienced tourers.

Does anyone have troubles with chasing biting dogs and how do you deal with it? I'm looking for ideas to take with me this summer. I don't want to hurt the dog but all I have now is a form of acrobatics to keep the bike between me and the dog. Thanks

To heck with the dog. A dog that attacks might freakin' maim you or much worse. You owe the dog nothing. Your choice of defense depends on your need to survive. Sprays are dangerous because they deploy at the push of a button and often end up hitting everyone and everything except the attacking animal but they're popular. Super loud whistles or horns can confuse, stun and deflect an attacking animal long enough for you to escape. Airzounds is a popular device, so are electronic horns, so are little freon horns for boating. The business end of these devices must be mounted where the blast will not hit your own ears.

Some folks carry firearms ostensibly for this kind of protection but that's another rather touchy topic and I'm not touching it.

Mr Nelson has provided a nice list. There are books and web sites that offer complete lists and solutions and suggestions. Just takes a bit of research. Nelson's list can be divided into stuff you need to be able to do to repair your bike so you can keep riding (or limp into the next town for serious professional help) and stuff you need to do just to keep it running well. Suggest you talk to your local bike shops, REI and bike coops to see who might be offering basic and advanced bike maintenance and repair classes or workshops. Knowing how to use your chain tool is far different from having a chain tool in your tool bag. Plus, there are realistic limits to what you can haul along when it comes to spare parts and specialized tools. Carrying the equipment to straighten a bent rear deraileur hanger is one thing; carrying tools and parts to service your rear cassette and hub is quite another. On a multi-hundred mile trip your bike will need some interesting attention but don't neglect knowing how to care for and repair your camping systems, too. Stove parts, tent pole sleeves, zipper repair, shoe laces, all that stuff. BAckpacking skills classes help build your confidence.

I'm a Remax agent & I would like some biking clothes. Any suggestions?

There are dozens of companies that will use dye sublimation to splash your logo, name, birthday, phone, and gym locker combo on any style of jersey or bike jacket. If you just want it embroidered, the number of providers approaches infinity.